Shooting prompted major disruptions in flight operations at LAX

Flights at Los Angeles International Airport were severely disrupted Friday after a gunman opened fire at a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint.

Airport officials said 746 flights were affected by the incident, which occurred about 9:20 a.m. at Terminal 3, which is shared by several airlines, including JetBlue, Virgin America and Frontier Airlines. In the six hours following the shooting, officials said, 46 flights were diverted, many of them to Long Beach Airport. Some also went to L.A./Ontario International Airport and to other airports in the west, including Las Vegas.

Terminal 3 was completely shut down all day with police and fire activity and authorities said it may not open for some time.

Airport officials are working on making alternate arrangements so Terminal 3 carriers can resume flights from other gates as soon as Saturday.

“Terminal 3 and parking structure 3 will remain closed for the time being,” Los Angeles World Airports Executive Director Gina Marie Lindsey said at a news conference Friday afternoon. “Any folks with flights (Saturday) with the airlines that typically operate out of Terminal 3 should contact the airline for specific information.”

The upper and lower roadways of LAX also were shut down for most of Friday. However, they were fully opened by Friday evening.

During the six hours following the shooting, operations at Terminals 1, 2 and 3 were most severely disrupted by the incident. Fire trucks and police cars lined the upper roadway outside all three terminals.

Terminals 4 through 8 — where major tenants include American, United and Delta — were less directly impacted, as they are located on the other side of the airport parking garages from Terminal 3. Some flights from those terminals did depart after the shooting, according to the website flightstats.com.

But those carriers also canceled many flights. Also, many passengers on American, Delta and United were simply not able to reach the airport due to traffic and closed roads.

American canceled 19 flights to and from LAX on Friday night, while American Eagle canceled 18, an airline spokeswoman said.

The FAA also placed the airport on a “ground stop” Friday afternoon until 4 p.m., meaning no flights were allowed to take off headed for Los Angeles. Flights already in the air were allowed to land at LAX, and there were a steady stream of arrivals after the shooting.

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Terminals 1 and 2 were shut down until about 4 p.m, airport officials said.

As no flights were allowed to depart from Terminals 1, 2 and 3, many passengers simply waited at the airport. Many stood for hours near the US Airways and Southwest Airlines ticket counters in Terminal 1, with some sitting on baggage scales.

Many said they had no idea when the airport would reopen, or whether their flights would leave.

“Nobody is saying anything,” said Kathie Lester, 41, of Thousand Oaks. “It’s hard to get information. No one seems to know what is going on.”

Terry Fields, 52, was waiting nearby. He was trying to get to Shreveport, La., for a funeral. By mid-afternoon, he had been at the airport for four hours. He had been booked on Virgin America, but was seeking to switch airlines.

“We’re talking, making friends and hoping for the best,” Fields said.

Virgin America and JetBlue were the most impacted by the incident and essentially shut down operations at LAX on Friday.

Both carriers may resume flights Saturday, but they will likely do so from remote gates far from the terminal area. In that case, passengers will have to take a bus to reach gates, Lindsey said.

JetBlue canceled flights to New York and Boston and moved another one, bound for Fort Lauderdale, to Long Beach Airport, where the airline bases its West Coast operation, an airline spokeswoman said.

A JetBlue flight from New York landed at LAX at 9:37 a.m., the spokeswoman said, but passengers did not get off the plane. Instead, she said, they flew three hours later on the same plane to Long Beach.

JetBlue Flight No. 23 took 16 minutes and landed in Long Beach at 1:06 p.m., according to the website flghtaware.com.

Virgin America canceled all of its flights from LAX after the shooting, airline officials said. They recommended passengers not come to the airport. Some passengers had already checked luggage with Virgin, and those bags remained at the airport. Virgin officials said they would deliver the bags soon.

Frontier canceled seven flights on Friday, all between LAX and its Denver hub. Another flight — No. 405 — was headed from Denver to Los Angeles when the shooting began and was diverted to Las Vegas.